Budget threatens 11,000 Central Coast jobs

A July 2010 study by UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education estimates 11,000 full-time equivalent positions—mostly in Health and Human Services—will be cut on the Central Coast in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

The study defined the Central Coast region as comprised of San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.

Also included in the study were an estimated $43 million in lost state and local tax revenues as a result of the job cuts.

Laurel Lucia, a policy analyst at the university and co-author of the study, said this report was a follow up to a May study that analyzed the statewide impact of the proposed budget cuts.

“[The governor’s office] is saying the state would save $210 million for the general fund, but it will also lose $43 million in tax revenue,” Lucia said. “When you cut Health and Human Services funding, you lose a lot of matching federal dollars.” Lucia added that the state unemployment rate was at 10.3 percent in May. The authors estimated it would increase by 0.9 percent as a result of the cuts.